Saturday, June 21, 2008

Summer Dub

For me, it's officially summer, and what better way to celebrate than some cool reggae dub courtesy of Prince Fatty. Although Survival of the Fattest has been out for almost a year now, I just came across it recently myself.

The term dub is thrown around a lot now a days, but its origins run deep, and as a genre, it's been highly influential. Dub as a distinctive musical form started taking shape in Jamaica in the late 60's, and really began to hit its stride in the 70's with men like Lee "Scratch" Perry and King Tubby experimenting and really exploring what could be done with it. Taking it forward from there, the whole idea of remixing a song comes from what these men were doing with the reggae cuts they were cutting apart, piecing together, and augmenting with various sonic slight of hands. Some would even suggest that the early roots of hip-hop rapping link back to the vocals that were laid over these dub tracks being produced. Considering Jamaican DJ Kool Herc was on the forefront of hip-hop in the 70's, it seems like a highly plausible theory.

Enough with the history lesson. Fast forward to now. British producer Mike Pelanconi put together Prince Fatty by assembling some musicians who were at ground zero when dub was first stretching its wings. Also of note, present and providing vocals on one track is Hollie Cook, the new vocalist for recently re-formed group The Slits. Put this mix together, and you have a return to the playful and go-easy feel of Jamaican Dub that's the perfect soundtrack for summer.